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Re: HE162 120067 vs 120222
Hello Harry,
Very interesting post!
I am in the process of analysing the He162s produced at Rostock and of course the information on the aircraft captured at Leck is one of my references.
Concerning the "white 4", I believe that the latest information that has circulated tends to confirm that it is indeed WNr. 120067. The photos taken at Leck and Kassel clearly show the similarities in the black gun muzzles, the camouflage features and the arrow on the nose...
This aircraft, seen in Kassel, is no longer equipped with its tailplanes or even its original wings.
Like all the aircraft seen at Kassel, "yellow 6", "white 3" and perhaps also "white 1", it has been dismantled (wings and tailplanes removed). It is therefore highly likely that, once they had been exported, they were reassembled without any concern for reassembling the aircraft with their original components. This was the case in France for 120015 (tailplane and ejection seat) and in the USA for 120230 (tailplane) and 120222 (wing and tailplane).
I also share your opinion that the fuselage of the "blanc 4" remained in Europe, given its state of deterioration... The Americans would have taken only the wings that would end up on the "white 7" (and not "yellow 7", the colour photo at Wright Field confirms this without discussion), WNr. 120222 (inscribed on the rear of the fuselage, like other He162s produced at Rostock).
And without any mention in the most detailed references (e.g. Buttler) of the shipment of the 120067 to the USA, we can state with a good degree of certainty the configuration of the "white 4":
He162A-2, "white 4", WNr 120067, with RLM drifts (81 or 82) and the 1./JG1 insignia on the left side. And as far as I'm concerned, the fuselage must not have reached the USA...
I would also like to congratulate you on the compilation of your data base on the He162!...
I have a few comments to make that I'll forward to you later, but the first concerns the WNr of the aircraft produced at Bernburg and Nordhausen respectively... I'm sure that the Bernburg aircraft had WNr 310XXX and not 300XXX... And I also came to the same conclusion as you that the He162, WNr 120235 captured in Leck by the British and currently being restored in Duxford must have been marked with the tactical number "red 6" of the 2./JG1...
Best regards
Pascal
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